Insurance companies would have you believe that you’re the customer. They promise savings and discounts and good coverage and print-your-own-ID-cards if all you do is spend 15 minutes to move the garbage insurance you have now to the garbage insurance that they’ll give you.
What they don’t tell you is that you’re actually the seller in the relationship, subjected to the judgments of both the artificial intelligence systems and the humans that make up their Underwriting and Product Development departments. The criteria used to determine whether you are offered a policy and the price you pay for it is a closely-guarded secret at most insurance companies, but it goes beyond your driving records, the age of your house, or your deductibles.
One insurance company we work with reports over a million factored possibilities in deciding whether you qualify and calculating the premium. And that’s before a human being gets ahold of it and looks at it even closer. Among the variables that affect how much you pay or whether you can get the coverage you need in the first place, do you know how you can improve your position? In other words, do you know what you can do to improve your “insurance credit worthiness” and reduce your premium?
Some factors are logical enough to most people, but many others would surprise you because it’s hard for most people to fathom the relevance between being in an accident you’re not at fault for and paying higher premiums, for example. Or how long between the date you received a quote and the date you decided to buy (the longer the gap, the better, believe it or not). Or how you made the money you used to buy your house. Or whether you’re gifting assets to the next generation. Yeah, stuff like that.
We think the next generation of insurance intelligence isn’t advising what coverage is needed, it’s how to convince the insurance company that you deserve it. As noted above, there are a million things to pay attention to.
Darren McGraw & Mechelsen Private Client 